Williamson county quietly drops Peters from his job as investigation opens.
State to assist inquiry of political consultant
Williamson officials hope to avoid potential for conflict of interest in billing case
April 6, 2002
Tony Plohetski,
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2002
The Texas attorney general's office agreed Friday to assist Williamson County officials in investigating a political consultant who billed the county thousands of dollars for meetings that allegedly never happened.
District Attorney John Bradley, who requested the agency's involvement, said he wanted to avoid suggestions that the consultant, Amos "Pete" Peters III of Austin, would receive preferential treatment because of his ties to county officials.
Peters has handled campaign work for almost every major office holder in the county, including Bradley, the county commissioners and Sheriff John Maspero.
"I believe the public would best be served by having a special prosecutor present a case to the grand jury," Bradley said in statement Friday.
Bradley has said he didn't use Peters' company during his recent primary campaign and has distanced himself from Peters since the investigation started. In 1996, he paid Peters' public relations firm, the Communicators, $500 for political work during his unsuccessful run for the state's criminal court of appeals.
Peters declined to comment on the attorney general's involvement and referred calls to his lawyer, Wayne Meissner of Austin.
Meissner said that he and his client have no qualms about the agency becoming involved in the case.
"We certainly welcome the involvement of anyone who is going to help resolve the matter as soon as possible," Meissner said.
"We continue to believe that Mr. Peters was faithful to his contract, and we hope that we can reach an appropriate conclusion real soon," he added.
Peters, 54, and his public relations firm were hired in January 2001 to promote a $350 million road bond project that was approved by Williamson County voters in November 2000.
He became the target of an investigation by the sheriff's department in February after the Austin American-Statesman reported in January that he billed the county more than $600 for three meetings with the newspaper's editor, Rich Oppel, who said the meetings never took place.
A later Statesman review of his invoices showed that Peters billed the county more than $2,400 for meetings with media representatives who said they didn't happen. Peters was paid at least another $2,300 for meetings that other people said likely didn't happen, according to interviews, reports and documents.
The county quietly dropped Peters from his job when the investigation opened.
Overall, the county paid Peters about $41,000 for his work on the road bond project last year. In addition to what Peters earned, his company was paid about $9,000 for work performed by an employee and about $11,000 in reimbursements for expenses.
The majority of the money was paid for work that has not been disputed.
Peters has attributed many of the questions surrounding his billing practices to sloppy
record-keeping, saying he frequently prepared information for reporters and then described the work as a meeting.
Maspero said that so far his department's investigation has centered on Peters' billings.
However, he said Friday that the scope has been extended to all of Peters' work for the county and that the investigation will likely continue for at least the next six months.
Attorney General spokesman Mike Viesca said Peters' case was handed over Friday to the agency's Prosecutor Assistance Division, which he said routinely helps with local investigations for a variety of reasons.
Viesca said the division is determining which prosecutor in the division would work the case, but he would not discuss further possible action.
Bradley's decision to seek outside help came as little surprise to Maspero and County Judge John Doerfler.
"I totally concur with his observation and what he has done," Maspero said.
Doerfler agreed.
"It was a good move on his part," he said. "It doesn't surprise me because I think if John would have handled the case, he'd have been accused of favoritism."
However, County Commissioner Mike Heiligenstein said he was surprised by the move because of Bradley's earlier statements that he was comfortable in his role.
But, Heiligenstein added, "I would assume that he's doing the best for all the parties involved."
tplohetski@statesman.com
© 2002 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com
Williamson officials hope to avoid potential for conflict of interest in billing case
April 6, 2002
Tony Plohetski,
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2002
The Texas attorney general's office agreed Friday to assist Williamson County officials in investigating a political consultant who billed the county thousands of dollars for meetings that allegedly never happened.
District Attorney John Bradley, who requested the agency's involvement, said he wanted to avoid suggestions that the consultant, Amos "Pete" Peters III of Austin, would receive preferential treatment because of his ties to county officials.
Peters has handled campaign work for almost every major office holder in the county, including Bradley, the county commissioners and Sheriff John Maspero.
"I believe the public would best be served by having a special prosecutor present a case to the grand jury," Bradley said in statement Friday.
Bradley has said he didn't use Peters' company during his recent primary campaign and has distanced himself from Peters since the investigation started. In 1996, he paid Peters' public relations firm, the Communicators, $500 for political work during his unsuccessful run for the state's criminal court of appeals.
Peters declined to comment on the attorney general's involvement and referred calls to his lawyer, Wayne Meissner of Austin.
Meissner said that he and his client have no qualms about the agency becoming involved in the case.
"We certainly welcome the involvement of anyone who is going to help resolve the matter as soon as possible," Meissner said.
"We continue to believe that Mr. Peters was faithful to his contract, and we hope that we can reach an appropriate conclusion real soon," he added.
Peters, 54, and his public relations firm were hired in January 2001 to promote a $350 million road bond project that was approved by Williamson County voters in November 2000.
He became the target of an investigation by the sheriff's department in February after the Austin American-Statesman reported in January that he billed the county more than $600 for three meetings with the newspaper's editor, Rich Oppel, who said the meetings never took place.
A later Statesman review of his invoices showed that Peters billed the county more than $2,400 for meetings with media representatives who said they didn't happen. Peters was paid at least another $2,300 for meetings that other people said likely didn't happen, according to interviews, reports and documents.
The county quietly dropped Peters from his job when the investigation opened.
Overall, the county paid Peters about $41,000 for his work on the road bond project last year. In addition to what Peters earned, his company was paid about $9,000 for work performed by an employee and about $11,000 in reimbursements for expenses.
The majority of the money was paid for work that has not been disputed.
Peters has attributed many of the questions surrounding his billing practices to sloppy
record-keeping, saying he frequently prepared information for reporters and then described the work as a meeting.
Maspero said that so far his department's investigation has centered on Peters' billings.
However, he said Friday that the scope has been extended to all of Peters' work for the county and that the investigation will likely continue for at least the next six months.
Attorney General spokesman Mike Viesca said Peters' case was handed over Friday to the agency's Prosecutor Assistance Division, which he said routinely helps with local investigations for a variety of reasons.
Viesca said the division is determining which prosecutor in the division would work the case, but he would not discuss further possible action.
Bradley's decision to seek outside help came as little surprise to Maspero and County Judge John Doerfler.
"I totally concur with his observation and what he has done," Maspero said.
Doerfler agreed.
"It was a good move on his part," he said. "It doesn't surprise me because I think if John would have handled the case, he'd have been accused of favoritism."
However, County Commissioner Mike Heiligenstein said he was surprised by the move because of Bradley's earlier statements that he was comfortable in his role.
But, Heiligenstein added, "I would assume that he's doing the best for all the parties involved."
tplohetski@statesman.com
© 2002 Austin American-Statesman:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Saturday, April 06, 2002
<< Home